Itron, Inc. and Silver Spring Networks, Inc. recently announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for Itron to acquire all outstanding shares of Silver Spring for $16.25 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at approximately $830M, net of $118M of Silver Spring’s cash. This represents a premium of 25 percent to Silver Spring’s closing share price on Sept. 15, 2017, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the transaction. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, Silver Spring provides Internet of Important Things connectivity platforms and solutions to utilities and cities. In 2016, Silver Spring generated revenues of $311M with a gross margin of 44 percent and ended the year with $1.2 billion of backlog. With its global footprint in the smart utility and smart city sectors, Silver Spring generated more than 20 percent of its revenues through its primarily recurring managed services and SaaS solutions, an area of strategic focus for Itron. To date, Silver Spring has delivered more than 26.7 million network-enabled devices across five continents.

Itron anticipates approximately $50M in annualized cost synergies to be substantially realized within three years of completing the transaction by optimizing combined operations and expenses. The acquisition is expected to have a positive impact on Itron’s long-term growth rate, be accretive to gross margin in the first year after completing the transaction and be accretive to non-GAAP EPS and adjusted EBITDA in the second year, excluding one-time, transaction-related costs and including stock-based compensation costs that Silver Spring currently excludes from its reported non-GAAP results.

“The addition of Silver Spring brings more capabilities to our offerings and advances our strategy of delivering highly secure, value-generating solutions for the critical infrastructure within utilities, smart cities and the broader industrial IoT sector,” said Philip Mezey, Itron’s president and chief executive officer. “By converging our complementary, standards-based technologies, we will enhance customer efficiencies with solutions that optimize devices, network technologies, outcomes and analytics. This enables us to increase investment in new solutions and accelerate innovation for our combined customer base, covering more than 200 million people.

“This transaction also increases our presence in the sizable industrial IoT segment, driving higher growth with recurring revenues and enabling Itron to increase profitability beyond our mid-teens EBITDA margin target,” continued Mezey. “Combining Silver Spring’s entrepreneurial culture and proven capabilities with Itron’s operational strengths, depth of solutions and customer intimacy will result in a company that is well-positioned in the fast growing critical infrastructure space. We look forward to welcoming Silver Spring’s talented team of engineers and professionals to Itron and are confident that together, we are best equipped to provide industry-leading solutions that will deliver greater value to our customers.”

Mike Bell, president and chief executive officer of Silver Spring Networks, said, “Joining forces with Itron will enable us to help more utilities and cities adopt the industrial Internet, improve their performance and reliability, and better position themselves for a connected future. This strong combination will address end-to-end solutions for our customers and will create immediate value for our stockholders; it will also provide new opportunities for our employees as part of a larger, global technology leader for the Internet of Important Things.”

Compelling strategic and financial benefits

More value for customers: Itron envisions it will converge the best of both companies’ complementary technologies to provide streamlined solutions on standards-based platforms, allowing the combined company to optimize industrial networks and deliver more solutions that increase value for customers.

Large partner ecosystem: Itron values an open platform approach to industry partners and is committed to supporting multi-vendor offerings for the smart utility and smart city sectors.

Enhances value-added services: With more than 90 million smart endpoints globally from the combined customer bases, Itron will be able to offer customers more outcome-based solutions, creating a large recurring revenue opportunity in the high-growth software and services segment.

Significant synergies: Itron anticipates approximately $50M of annualized cost synergies within three years of completing the transaction by optimizing combined operating expenses. The transaction also will create additional revenue synergy potential.

Accretive transaction: The acquisition is expected to have a positive impact on Itron’s long-term growth rate, be accretive to gross margin in the first year and be accretive to non-GAAP EPS and adjusted EBITDA margin in year two, excluding one-time, transaction-related costs.

Itron plans to finance the transaction using a combination of cash and approximately $750M in incremental new debt. Fully committed financing has been provided by Wells Fargo.

The transaction is expected to close in late 2017 or early 2018 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval and the approval of Silver Spring’s stockholders.

Centerview Partners and Credit Suisse are acting as financial advisors to Itron, and Jones Day is acting as its legal advisor. Evercore is acting as financial advisor and Fenwick & West LLP as legal advisor to Silver Spring.

Company Webcast
Itron will host a webcast today, Sept. 18, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. EDT to discuss this transaction. The webcast and presentation materials will be made available 10 minutes before the start of the call and will be accessible on Itron’s website at http://investors.itron.com/events.cfm. A replay of the audio webcast will be made available at http://investors.itron.com/events.cfm. A telephone replay of the conference call will be available through Sept. 29, 2017.

About Itron
Itron is a world-leading technology and services company dedicated to the resourceful use of energy and water. We provide comprehensive solutions that measure, manage and analyze energy and water. Our broad product portfolio includes electricity, gas, water and thermal energy measurement devices and control technology; communications systems; software; as well as managed and consulting services. With thousands of employees supporting nearly 8,000 customers in more than 100 countries, Itron applies knowledge and technology to better manage energy and water resources. Together, we can create a more resourceful world. For more information, visit www.itron.com.

Itron and OpenWay are registered trademarks of Itron, Inc. All third-party trademarks are property of their respective owners and any usage herein does not suggest or imply any relationship between Itron and the third party unless expressly stated.

About Silver Spring Networks
Silver Spring Networks enables the Internet of Important Things by reliably and securely connecting things that matter. Cities, utilities, and companies on five continents use the company’s cost-effective, high-performance IoT network and data platform to operate more efficiently, get greener, and enable innovative services that can improve the lives of millions of people. With more than 26.7 million devices delivered, Silver Spring provides a proven standards-based platform safeguarded with military grade security. Silver Spring Networks’ customers include Baltimore Gas & Electric, CitiPower & Powercor, ComEd, Consolidated Edison, CPS Energy, Florida Power & Light, Pacific Gas & Electric, Pepco Holdings, and Singapore Power. Silver Spring has also deployed networks in Smart Cities including Copenhagen, Glasgow, Paris, Providence, and Stockholm. For more information, visit www.ssni.com.